A Boutique Law Firm With Over 200 Years’ Combined Experience

Our Firm

Areas of Practice

Our Attorneys

The Law Firm for Architects, Engineers and the Construction Industry

The Coleman Law Firm is a boutique law firm serving:

Design professionals in architecture and engineering

Suppliers and contractors in the concrete industry

Our firm’s attorneys have been working with architecture, engineering and construction clients like you for a combined total of more than 200 years. We’ve learned a lot about how you conduct day-to-day business and the tough issues you sometimes face.

As a result, when you want to prevent or resolve a dispute, you don’t have to spend a lot of time bringing us up to speed. We grasp the issues quickly. We develop informed and cost-effective strategies. And, while we take pride in our ability to navigate clients toward early resolutions, we’re prepared to take your case all the way to trial or arbitration.

6Insurance Coverage

Coleman Law Firm Attorneys

Jeffrey W. Coleman, PE, FACI

Attorney at Law

Attorney Jeffrey W. Coleman, PE, FACI, focuses his practice on construction law, professional liability defense, concrete construction and general business law, including insurance and coverage.

Mr. Coleman has been a licensed structural engineer since 1977 and a practicing attorney since 1984. Coleman provides clients with a single resource for both legal and risk management issues. He has represented design professionals in all matters of their business, including defense of multimillion-dollar design defect and negligent construction administration claims.

Nationally known for his knowledge and expertise in the area of concrete construction, Coleman is the author of "Legal Issues in Concrete Construction" and is the only attorney ever to be named a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (FACI).

He also is known for his involvement with large complex construction litigation—among them the Notre Dame football stadium, Soaring Eagle Casino arbitration, the Duluth Aquarium and, more recently, a large ethanol plant in North Dakota and marina cases in Florida and California. While he has handled major cases that drew national attention, much of his practice involves advising clients on contracts, contract negotiations, claims avoidance and early resolution of potential claims.

Coleman also offers unique capabilities in the area of risk financing (insurance) alternatives, including formation of captive insurance companies and related facilities through the London and European insurance markets in response to the crisis in the professional liability markets during the 1980s. He has a 25-year working relationship with Lloyds of London syndicates and other London-based insurance companies.

Before establishing The Coleman Law Firm, he was a founder with long-time partner and friend William D. Hull of Coleman Hull & Van Vliet. Previously, Coleman was general counsel for Ellerbe Becket, an architectural, engineering, interior design and construction firm.

Coleman is a member, board member or executive of legal and engineering associations including:

American Bar Association

Hennepin County Bar Association

Consulting Engineers Council of Minnesota

National Society of Professional Engineers

American Institute of Architects

American Concrete Institute

American Society of Concrete Contractors

American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota

Minnesota Concrete Council

In 2016, he received the Richard Stehly Industry Advancement Award from the Minnesota Concrete Council, for advancing the concrete industry, as well as the Delmar L. Bloem Distinguished Service Award from the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for outstanding service to ACI Committee 132 “Responsibility in Concrete Construction.” In 2009, he was honored with the Tom Roche Lifetime Achievement Award by American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota, the only attorney to receive the award.

Coleman received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in structural engineering from Iowa State University and is a cum laude graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law.

Lars C. Erickson

Attorney at Law

Attorney Lars C. Erickson has been practicing law since 1996 and has represented general contractors, subcontractors, developers, architects and engineers in a myriad of cases involving complex legal issues. He has first chaired jury trials in construction cases and has brought numerous cases to favorable settlements for his clients.

In addition to his work in construction litigation, Erickson has defended numerous bodily injury cases. He is experienced in defending no-fault claims, underinsured/uninsured motorist claims, and premises liability claims. He has also brought Declaratory Judgment actions on behalf of insurance carriers and has defended first-party cases brought against insurance companies by their insured.

Erickson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 1996 and received his Master of Arts in Public Administration from Hamline’s Graduate School in 2001.

Jade E. Holman

Associate

Attorney Jade E. Holman has been practicing law since 2013. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, which he attended on scholarship. After law school, he gained courtroom experience as a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas Fraser in the Minnesota Fourth District Court. Now he focuses his practice in the areas of construction law, litigation defense of architects and engineers, and professional liability defense.

John Trout

Of Counsel

Attorney John Trout has been practicing law since 1994. He provides legal representation and counseling of contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, owners and design professionals involved in commercial, governmental and residential construction projects; representation and counseling of businesses in general; and representation of parties in real estate matters, including disputes involving misrepresentation in the sale of real property.

His specialties include litigation, arbitration and mediation of business and construction disputes; as well as mechanic's liens, payment bonds, construction claims, contract drafting and review, real estate fraud and misrepresentation.

Trout graduated from William Mitchell College of Law and clerked for the Minnesota Fourth Judicial District Court.

William D. Hull

Of Counsel

Attorney William D. (Bill) Hull has been practicing law since 1979. He was a partner with Jeffrey Coleman for 22 years in the former Coleman, Hull & Van Vliet. His areas of focus include contract review and preparation, business advice, risk management for construction professionals, and construction litigation. Types of litigation include professional liability, claims for delays, disruption and losses of efficiency, breaches of contracts for performance, scope of work and payment, complex multiparty insurance coverage issues, and construction defects. Since 1985, he has served on the American Arbitration Association Arbitration Panel and since 1995 has served on the Minnesota Supreme Court Panel of Qualified Neutrals for both Mediation and Arbitration. In 2013 Hull founded Hull ADR Services, LLC, focusing on mediation and arbitration of commercial, corporation, construction, and employment disputes.

During his career, Hull has served as outside general counsel for small- and medium-sized businesses, advising management and supervising outside counsel on a variety of issues. He has litigated and arbitrated complex commercial, construction and employment cases in federal and state court and before arbitration panels across the United States. In addition to his litigation experience, he has advised clients on shareholder disputes and business valuation issues, mergers and acquisitions, and has negotiated and drafted contracts, leases, employment agreements, real estate purchase and financing.

Hull is a member of the American Bar Association and the Hennepin Bar Association, is past chairman of the Construction Law Section, has served as a representative to the General Assembly of the Minnesota State Bar Association, and is a former member of the Fourth District Ethics panel. Hull has been a member or board member of professional organizations including:

Associated General Contractors of Minnesota

Associated General Contractors of America

Minnesota Concrete and Masonry Contractors Association

National Association of Industrial and Office Park Developers.

Since 1998, he has been designated by Thomson Reuters as a Minnesota "Super Lawyer" and has been named among the top 40 Mediators by Minnesota Law & Politics magazine. He has consistently achieved the highest rankings (AV rating) by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Hull received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and earned his juris doctorate, cum laude, from Saint Louis University.

Donald G. Clapp

Of Counsel

Attorney Donald G. Clapp has been practicing law since 1977, focusing on civil litigation matters, trials and appeals in all licensed forums.

Clapp has tried many jury cases dealing with diverse civil law issues, including numerous cases in litigation, arbitration and appeal in which he was lead counsel for one or more parties. He has obtained numerous jury verdicts in favor of both plaintiffs and defendants, including successfully defending against a $2 million claim, for which the court awarded $250,000 in costs in favor of his client.

He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell (the highest rating available), and, since 1993, has been designated as a Certified Civil Trial Specialist by the Minnesota Bar Association.

He received a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and earned a juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Michael P. Katz

Of Counsel

Attorney Michael P. Katz began practicing law in 1979. He has more than 20 years' experience as in-house counsel with major design and construction firms.

Most recently, he served as general counsel and directed corporate legal affairs at Ellerbe Becket, an architectural, engineering, interior design and construction firm. There, Katz drafted and negotiated design, design/build and joint venture contracts for global projects worth up to $2 billion in construction value; managed all claim and litigation activity; purchased and managed Professional Liability and CGL coverages, including oversight of offshore E&O captive; and developed and implemented risk management programs. When Ellerbe Becket merged with AECOM in 2009, Katz was a member of the merger and transition teams.

Before joining Ellerbe Becket, Katz was "Of Counsel" to a law firm specializing in property tax valuation and litigation. He also served as deputy general counsel to a division of the nation's largest heavy/highway contractor, which constructed lock and dam projects and cable-stay bridges across the United States. There, he drafted and negotiated construction and material purchase contracts and equipment leases; handled and resolved major claims arising from projects; and managed litigation in state and federal courts and before federal contracting boards.

Katz received a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and earned a juris doctorate, cum laude, degree from William Mitchell College of Law.

J.R. Toren

Of Counsel

Toren has practiced law since 1984 both as a private practice attorney and as in-house legal counsel. He has represented small businesses and closely held corporations in all aspects of their legal and business needs, including corporate formation, buy-sell agreements, shareholder disputes, mergers and acquisitions, and contractual drafting (license, employment, non-compete, distributorship/sales, and independent contract agreements). His business management experience includes positions as manager, general manager, vice president and executive director over marketing, quality assurance, health and safety, human resources, captive insurance as well as off-shore or international arrangements for funding to, investments by, and insurance of, captive insurance companies, and various direct operations. He also provides organizational diagnostics and management consulting services through ExecTeam, LLC.

He is a member of the Minnesota State and Scott County Bar Associations.

Toren received a bachelor's degree and earned an MBA degree from the University of Minnesota and earned a juris doctorate, cum laude, from William Mitchell College of Law.